There is much discussion on travel forums about the best driving directions for Dingle, Kerry and Skellig. Generally, the Lonely Planet recommends following the buses (clockwise on Dingle, and anti-clockwise on Kerry). The roads of the Skellig Ring are not wide enough for buses so it’s not so much of an issue. When there’s an on-coming car, often not visible until metres away, someone must reverse to a wider section of road, particularly daunting on winding hills.
Prior to leaving Perth we viewed many YouTube videos by Rick Steves, an entertaining American travel journalist, previously unknown to us. Rick said to go the opposite way to the buses. We then read reviews by travellers who had taken both directions. After many hours of evaluation that could have been put to far better use, we decided to follow the Lonely Planet recommendation and hence the buses. It was a good decision – the drive was hair-raising enough without oncoming tourist buses and the hapless drivers of the oncoming traffic pulled over for the buses, enabling us to drive past easily too.
On the Ring of Kerry we encountered the breed of the opportunistic Irishman. We did not want to buy water, or a whisky, or beer by the roadside, and we did not want to cuddle a lamb. If we didn’t know it was blarney, the disappointed expressions of the spruikers of these services would have torn our hard hearts.
It was a long day (we left Dingle early and arrived at our accommodation in Kenmare about 8pm). The highly descriptive name of one of the walks that punctuated our scenic drive was Kerry’s Most Spectacular Cliffs. I can’t remember the price now to walk up the path to these most spectacular cliffs, but it was fairly jaw-dropping. Derek asked if we could have our money back if they weren’t the most spectacular cliffs we’d seen in the spectacular Ring of Kerry. The good-natured attendant laughed and promised to refund our money if required, but said we would be the first. So we did the walk and had to agree – the spectacular cliffs were the most spectacular we had seen in the Ring of Kerry and possibly anywhere. Trad music at the pub and a whisky rounded off an eventful day.